Dial Nano for Emergency - by Mansi Thapliyal

During Janta Curfew starting March 22, the National Highway 58, a 538 km long road running across three states (Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand) was closed, with no public or private passenger vehicles running at that time. 

Ganesh’s car was on the road making two to four trips a day for 42 days, sometimes at night too. The nearest hospital from Bhallegaon is 20 kilometres away.

Ganesh Bhatt, a resident of the village Bhallegoan, District Tehri Garhwal stands for a portrait next to his Tata Nano car. 

One resident of the village called the car "the lifeline of their region". During the lockdown period, Ganesh turned his car into an emergency vehicle carrying patients to the hospital, helping the elderly with ration and medical supplies and at times, dropping walking migrant workers to their respective villages.

National Highway 58 goes through Ganesh’s village Bhallegaon in Tehri District. This particular highway connects the hilly region with the rest of the country, bringing livelihood to people, as many popular tourist and pilgrim destinations are on this highway. Also, people living in the far remote villages, where the roads haven’t reached yet, are dependent on this highway for all basic needs as well all kinds of emergencies including medical.

Arun Rai, who has been living in Bhallegaon for the 35 years, said earlier he could get a public bus or a private passenger jeep from the main road which is hardly 100 meters away from his house. However, during the lockdown period, there was no public transport available.

“It seemed only my car was running on the road at that time”, Ganesh recalls. 

Jyoti Bangwal, who runs a roadside restaurant in Bhallegaon says, “those days, people were too scared to even step outside their homes, people dreaded going to hospitals or coming in contact with anyone who had any kind of sickness. There are more than 20-25 cars in our village but nobody wanted to take the risk.”

According to Sandeep, another resident of Bhallegaon, “some didn’t want to go as they thought the police might bother them if they didn’t have proper vehicle papers.”

On the morning of 30th March, their 15-year-old son was taken to the hospital in Srinagar by Ganesh in his TATA Nano car. 

Ganga Devi said, “suddenly the previous night, our son complained of chest pain.  We waited till morning and then called Ganesh ji. Our son is a heart patient and has already undergone surgery in 2015. We were scared.” 

Meharban said he had got to know about Ganesh’s initiative through Facebook.

This year during Janta Curfew, Meharban lost his job at a local restaurant as a helper in the kitchen which would bring in an earning of six to seven thousand rupees a month.

Babita Devi (35) outside her home in Badoli village in Tehri District, Uttarakhand. 

On 26th April, Babita was taken to the hospital in Srinagar (24 kms away) by Ganesh in his Tata Nano car after Babita had injured her foot. 

Ganesh recalls, “it was Sunday and there was no doctor at emergency, then I posted a message on Facebook. After some time, a few local journalists reached the hospital - they were the ones who called the doctor. There was no electricity, but a generator was arranged and finally an X-ray done."

Babita’s house is around 500 metres from the main road. On that day, 2 people along with Ganesh helped carrying Babita to the main road, where the car was parked.

On March 16th, a few days before the lockdown, Prem met with an accident while travelling on a loaded truck. He was immediately taken to the hospital in Srinagar by Ganesh in his car. 

Prem describes his current situation, “my neighbours leave this little baby goat with me, tied to my cot, knowing that it is safe here!” 

At the moment, Prem can barely walk, as he had to undergo surgery. Until now he was the only bread earner in his family, now his wife Guddi sells cow milk and does odd jobs to feed the family of 5.

Dr. Lokesh Saluja at Government Combined Hospital, Srinagar, Pauri District Uttarakhand. Dr.Saluja remembers one critical case brought in by Ganesh, "A young man in his 20s was paralysed, with no lower limbs. He had no motion for a week. His abdomen was distended and required urgent treatment. Me and Ganesh must have removed 1-2 kg of faeces from his body.”

In support of Ganesh’s initiative, the Doctor said, “When I saw Ganesh consecutively with 4-5 patients, I wondered, how could anyone be related to so many patients! And then, he told me that he is providing this service free of cost. Patients were very needy at that time, therefore this kind of service was a big relief for many people''. Doctor Garima did recall many patients who were coming to her clinic from far off places, booking taxis worth more than 1-2 thousand rupees during those days.

Ganesh started two computer centres; one in 2008 and another one in 2010, to provide young students with computer education. He had taken a loan to start his business and also a loan for the car. During the lockdown, he had to sell most of the computers. Eventually, closed down both the centres as no students were coming. He was unable to afford the rent.

Ganesh explained, “In case if tomorrow there is any legal inquiry, I want to make sure I have proper documentation of all the cases. Also, I wanted to post them on Social Media, so that more people in need could reach out.” Out of 62 cases, 51 got in touch with Ganesh through social media, mostly Facebook.

Ganesh Bhatt’s first post on Facebook on March 23, about his initiative; urging others to join him. Ganesh explained, “In case if tomorrow there is any legal inquiry, I want to make sure I have proper documentation of all the cases. Also, I wanted to post them on Social Media, so that more people in need could reach out.” Out of 62 cases, 51 got in touch with Ganesh through social media, mostly Facebook.

Ganesh says, “Now everybody seems to know my car, even the local policemen. There is only one such blue TATA Nano car in this area. People wave or at times honk when they pass by, while I am driving. People can recognise it.”